photo by Jim Ashley
Soddy Daisy’s quarterback had three seconds to make magic happen, and stood on his six yard
line down by seven. Isaac Barnes took the snap in the shotgun, flanked by two receivers on
each side and his halfback Hayden Maynor in his pocket. The right-handed quarterback drifted
to his left on a designed rollout, waited as long as he could, and launched a prayer into the back
corner of the endzone. A well-positioned Cleveland defensive back swatted the ball away,
ending a thrilling game in an instant.
Despite their late-game shortcomings in their 21-14 loss, Soddy Daisy showed a commendable
effort throughout the second half. Cleveland completely dominated the first half and entered
halftime up 14-0 on the home team. Their stud receiver Robert Flowers roasted Soddy Daisy’s
defense on a fourth down sweep for 71 yards and a touchdown in the half’s most spectacular
play.
That deficit ballooned to 21 early in the second half when Cleveland’s Tetoe Boyd drove in from
one yard out for his second touchdown the game. However, Soddy Daisy’s offense began to
show signs of life afterward, and made a game out of the erstwhile rout. Despite bobbling a
catchable ball or three, Trojan receivers KeSean Eubanks and Will Ackerman began to tear off
20 yard gains with consistency.
Trailing 21-14, Soddy Daisy had the ball with a minute left in the fourth quarter, facing fourth
down and a reeling Cleveland defense. Like he would do again only a few minutes later, Barnes
sprinted left in preparation for a pass. That pass never happened thanks to linebacker Leo
Palelei, who rocketed into the play and sacked Barnes for what looked like the game-ending
play.
The Trojans forced the Blue Raiders to run plays though, burning their last few timeouts. On a
play reminiscent of his long touchdown, Flowers took the ball on the sweep and easily gained
the first down. However, the gangly 6’4 pass-catcher couldn’t quite separate from the defense,
and a shorter defensive back was able to punch the ball out of Flower’s hands. Soddy Daisy
recovered the fumble, and got in position to score with only 30 seconds in the game.
Their last-gasp effort fell short though, placing both Cleveland and Soddy Daisy at 2-2 on the
season.